1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a polyacetylene composite comprising a coating of an ionic organic compound, a process for the production of the composite, and a method for the use of the composite.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It has been well known that oxygen-containing organic compounds such as crown ethers possess an ability to interact with cation species such as, for example, Li.sup.+, Na.sup.+, and K.sup.+. The present inventors, from an extensive study of the functions possessed by such oxygen-containing organic compounds, have discovered specific ionic organic compounds and have found that these compounds possess an ability to interact with cation species such as Li.sup.+, Na.sup.+, and K.sup.+.
As basic characteristics, the aforementioned compounds possess:
(A) Ionic electrical conductivity PA1 (B) Specific interaction with alkali metal ions PA1 (C) Protective activity manifested against anion species.
It has been demonstrated that the specific ionic organic compounds bring about a highly conspicuous effect in stabilizing n-doped conjugate type polymers such as polyacetylene.
In recent years, U.S. Pat. No. 4,204,216 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,222,903 have disclosed that conjugate type polymers such as polyacetylene are caused by n-doping with cation species or p-doping with anion species to manifest phenomenal electrical conductivity. No. EP-36118 has proposed a secondary battery which makes use of a conjugate type polymer such as polyacetylene. This secondary battery is attracting keen interest as a novel type of secondary battery with an unusually high capacity. Particularly, the polyacetylene which is n-doped with a cation species is expected as a highly promising candidate for the negative electrode active substance of the non-aqueous type secondary battery which is enjoying a vigorous demand in the trade of secondary batteries. Unfortunately, the aforementioned n-doped polyacetylene disclosed by No. EP-36118 is unusually unstable and this instability constitutes a serious obstacle to practical use.
This instability of the n-doped polyacetylene is interpreted to be a fundamental quality ascribable to its extremely active carbanion-like structure. Any effort to impart improved stability to the n-doped polyacetylene has been regarded as nearly impossible.